Stateside Waivers March 4, 2013, USCIS began accepting provisional hardship waivers for illegal presence stateside, for immediate relatives of American Citizens with an approved I-130 petition. If you are the immediate relative of an American Citizen you can now apply for an immigration waiver from within the U.S. This will help families avoid the very long wait times abroad which prevented many from seeking this benefit.(See story at right)

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FOCUS:Immigration WaiversAn American Citizen married the love of her life who happened to have entered the United States illegally. She petitioned for him and the petition was approved. Great! Immigration sent him a letter that he should go back to his home country to get a visa so he can enter as a legal permanent resident. Off he went for his interview. The interview went ok except for the part that the consul told him that he couldn’t enter the United States for 3 years because he had entered the United States illegally. Now what?

This scenario happens very often, even now that USCIS (immigration) is accepting stateside waivers for immediate relatives of US citizens. If your relative is in this situation, they may qualify for an waiver. Immigration waivers are discretionary and can waive certain grounds of inadmissibility. In order to get an immigration waiver, the would be immigrant must be able to prove to the satisfaction of the Consul that the petitioning relative who is a US Citizen or Legal Permanent Resident (LPR) will suffer extreme hardship if the would be immigrant is not allowed to enter the United States. No easy task.